need a new Ruby book?

[stuinzuri]

Hi all,

Back in 2001 or so I took a look at ruby...downloaded ruby for my
windows machine, bought Thomas & Hunt's "Programming Ruby" (2001,
Addison Wesley), ......and promptly got caught up in a massive career
change.

Now I am back with a bit of Java and mgmt experience under my belt and
want to get back into ruby on my MacBook (with built in ruby 0.9
(02/07/03))

The question is, am i still good with this five year old book? At
least for a while? Or should I consider it prime recycling material?
My interest at this point is only personal and not professional...so I
can't stick the employer with the bill.

tia,

Stu

 

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

Hi all,

Back in 2001 or so I took a look at ruby...downloaded ruby for my
windows machine, bought Thomas & Hunt's "Programming Ruby" (2001,
Addison Wesley), ......and promptly got caught up in a massive career
change.

Now I am back with a bit of Java and mgmt experience under my belt and
want to get back into ruby on my MacBook (with built in ruby 0.9
(02/07/03))

The question is, am i still good with this five year old book? At
least for a while? Or should I consider it prime recycling material?
My interest at this point is only personal and not professional...so I
can't stick the employer with the bill.

tia,

Stu

Well ...

1. Ruby 1.8 is out -- upgrade your Ruby
2. There's a second edition of Programming Ruby, a brand new second
edition of The Ruby Way, and perhaps another half dozen good books. I'd
recommend getting at least those two, and if you're interested in Rails,
get Agile Web Development for Rails and Ruby for Rails.

 

[Timothy Hunter]

Hi all,

Back in 2001 or so I took a look at ruby...downloaded ruby for my
windows machine, bought Thomas & Hunt's "Programming Ruby" (2001,
Addison Wesley), ......and promptly got caught up in a massive career
change.

Now I am back with a bit of Java and mgmt experience under my belt and
want to get back into ruby on my MacBook (with built in ruby 0.9
(02/07/03))

The question is, am i still good with this five year old book? At
least for a while? Or should I consider it prime recycling material?
My interest at this point is only personal and not professional...so I
can't stick the employer with the bill.

tia,

Stu

I'd say yes, assuming you can afford the $30 it takes to buy the new
edition of _Programming_Ruby_. If you seriously want to program in Ruby,
as a hobby or professionally, you'll want at least one other book,
either Hal Fulton's _The_Ruby_Way_ or Lucas Carlson and Leonard
Richardson's _Ruby_Cookbook_. And if you're interested in Ruby On Rails,
David Black's _Ruby_for_Rails is very highly regarded, as is Dave Thomas
and David Heinemeier Hansson's _Agile_Web_Development_with_Rails_.

 

[Peter Booth]

I did the same thing. My first book was shelfware for four years. What I
found most useful, in order, are

1. Ruby for Rails by David Black (It explains Ruby in away that I could
grok)
2. Ruby Cookbook
3. Programming Ruby (2nd edition - I keep this one at work and v1. at
home as references)

I have the 2nd edition of The Ruby Way on order and am about to order
2nd edition (second copy) of _Agile_Web_Development_with_Rails_. I think
it would be great to have a similar book to Chan's "The Java Developer's
Alamanac" that lists all APIs of all known Ruby libraries. There are
probably smart IRB or ri tricks that make this unnecessary. Of course, I
do have more than 20 Java books ...

 

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

I think it would be great to have a similar book to Chan's "The Java
Developer's Alamanac" that lists all APIs of all known Ruby libraries.
There are probably smart IRB or ri tricks that make this unnecessary.

Yeah ... some combination of ri, rdoc, pdf writer, ferret, hpricot and a
huge hard drive ought to do it.

 

[J2M]

1. Ruby for Rails by David Black (It explains Ruby in away that I could
grok)
2. Ruby Cookbook
3. Programming Ruby (2nd edition - I keep this one at work and v1. at
home as references)

I second these. Davids book is the best IMHO for getting to grips with
the works of Ruby. Ruby cookbook is great for giving you ideas on how
to solve common problems. And the pickaxe (3) is the reference to fall
back on.

James

 

[stuinzuri]

ho, hum...I was looking to save a buck and now you all have me wanting
to spend $100!

Seriously, thanks for the input. As RoR looks to be my target area, I
probably need to lay out some cash for some of the books you all have
recommended. Maybe after the new year.

thanks.

Stu

 

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

ho, hum...I was looking to save a buck and now you all have me wanting
to spend $100!

Seriously, thanks for the input. As RoR looks to be my target area, I
probably need to lay out some cash for some of the books you all have
recommended. Maybe after the new year.

You can start now with David Black's "Ruby For Rails". It's quite
self-contained and it will get you started, assuming of course you have
a computer and an Internet connection. Then pick up "Agile Web
Development With Rails, 2nd Edition" after the new year, when the book
and the software will have converged.